Mammary tumor inhibiting effect of 3,3'-diacetoxy-.alpha.,.beta

May 11, 1981 - 15 was acylated with acetyl chloride and reduced with diborane to give 27 as white crystals, mp 255-257 °C dec. Preparation of Aminote...
0 downloads 0 Views 672KB Size
J . Med. Chem. 1982,25, 141-145

was suspended in 50 mL of toluene, heated to reflux for 1 h, treated with 3 mL of concentrated HC1, and refluxed for an additional hour. It was cooled and fiitered. Recrystallization from EtOH-EtzO gave 1.6 g (63%) of white needles, mp 235-237 “C dec. 1,2,3,4-Tetrahydro-5,8-dimethyl-2-naphthalenamine Hydrochloride (17). A solution of 4.0 g (24.3 mmol) of 2,5-dimethylphenylaceticacid and 3.6 g (30 mmol) of SOClz was stirred a t 25 OC for 16 h. Excess SOC12was removed, and the residue was dissolved in 30 mL of CH2Cl2 This was added to a suspension of 33 g (25 mmol) of AlC13 in 60 mL of CHzC12in a dry-ice bath. Ethylene was bubbled through the mixture vigorously for 7 min, and the reaction was allowed to warm to 25 “C and stirred for 30 min. The reaction was quenched with HzO,and the layers were separated, washed with 3 N HC1 and 5% NaHC03, dried, and evaporated. The residue was quickly chromatographedover silica gel eluting with 7030 cyclohexane-Et20 to give 2.0 g (47%) of tan oil. This was dissolved in 50 mL of dry MeOH containing 8.0 g of NH40Ac. Sodium cyanoborohydride (3.3 g, 55 mmol) was added, and the mixture was stirred for 16 h. The reaction was treated carefully with 15 mL of concentrated HC1 and stirred for 1h. The MeOH was removed, and the residue was partitioned between EhO and HzO. The aqueous layer was separated, made basic, and extracted again with EtzO. The basic extracts were dried and treated with HCl/EhO. The resulting precipitate was removed by fitration and crystallized from MeOH-EtOAc to give 0.40 g (22%) of white solid, mp 243-245 “C.

141

Compound 20 was obtained by acetylation and diborane reduction of 6,7-dimetho~y-2-aminotetralin.~ Compounds 25 and 26 were prepared by acylation of 22 with acetyl or propionyl chloride, followed by diborane reduction. Compounds 28,29, and 31 were synthesized by diborane reduction of the correspondingacetamides 6, 9, and 11. 1,2,3,4-Tetrahydro-8-methoxy-5-(methylthio)-2naphthalenamine Hydrochloride (30). A solution of 1.0 g (3.8 mmol) of 11 in 100 mL of toluene containing 0.474 g (6 mmol) of pyridine was heated to 65 OC. Phosphorus pentachloride (1.25 g, 6 mmol) was added and heating continued for 2 h. The toluene was removed under reduced pressure, 200 mL of MeOH was added, and the solution was stirred overnight at 25 OC. The MeOH was evaporated and 100 mL of 1:l THF-H20 was added. After 30 min the THF was removed and the aqueous layer was extracted with Et20. It was made alkaline with NHIOH and extracted with 3 portions of CHZCl2.The combined extracts were dried and evaporated to yield free base as an oil. This was dissolved in E t 2 0 and treated with excess ethereal HC1. The resulting precipitate was removed by filtration and recrystallized from MeOH-EtOAc-EhO to give 0.45 g (45%) of a white solid, mp 290 “C dec. 7,8-Dimethoxy-2-aminotetralin (21). The compound was prepared by the method of Barfknecht et al.,24starting with 2,3-dimethoxybenzyl chloride. It was recrystallized from 2propanol-ether as colorless rosettes, mp 212-213 OC.

1,2,3,4-Tetrahydro-8-chloro-N-ethyl-5-methoxy-2naphthalenamine Hydrochloride (27). The primary amine (24) D. E. Nichols, C. F. Barf’knecht,J. P. Long, R. T. Standridge, 15 was acylated with acetyl chloride and reduced with diborane to give 27 as white crystals, mp 255-257 “C dec. Preparation of Aminotetralins 20, 25, 26, 28, 29 and 31.

H. G. Howell, R. A. Partyka, and D. C. Dyer, J. Med. Chem., 17, 161 (1974).

(25) R. I. Thrift, J. Chem. SOC.C , 288 (1967).

Mammary Tumor Inhibiting Effect of 3,3’-Diacetoxy-a,~-dialkylstilbenes and of Related Stilbene Oxides Martin R. Schneider,t Helmut Schonenberger,*JRalf T. Michel,§and H. P. Fortmeyerl Institut f u r Pharmazie der Universitat Regensburg, Universitatsstrape 31, 0-8400 Regensburg, West Germany, and Klinik der Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universitiit, Abteilung f u r Gynaekologie und Onkologie und Abteilung fur Tierversuchskunde, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7,0-6000FrankfurtlMain, West Germany. Received January 5, 1981

3,3’-Diacetoxy-a,~-dialkylstilbenes (alkyl = CH3 to C4H9,1-4), 3,3’-dihydroxy-a,@-diethylstilbene (5), and their corresponding stilbene oxides (6-10) were synthesized. Compounds 1-10 competitively antagonized in vitro the (2), 3,3’-diacetoxy-a,p-diethylstilbene interaction of [3H]estradiolwith ita receptor. 3,3’-Diacetoxy-a,fl-diethylstilbene oxide (7), and their phenolic analogues (5 and 10) were most effective. Shortening or lengthening the alkyl side chains led to a decrease in receptor affinity. Among the stilbenes and epoxides, those with CzH6and C3H7groups (2,3,5 and 7,8,10) caused the strongest inhibition of the growth of a hormone-dependent postmenopausal human mammary carcinoma serially implanted in nude mice. The strong antitumor activity of 5 and 10 was confirmed by experiments on the 9,10-dimethy1-1,2-benzanthracene-induced, hormone-dependent mammary carcinoma of the Sprague-Dawley rat.

The displacement of the phenolic hydroxy groups of the into synthetic estrogens 4,4’-dihydroxy-a,/3-dialkylstilbenes the 3,3’ positions led to compounds with antiestrogenic and mammary tumor inhibiting properties.lI2 Since the transformation of 4,4’-dihydroxy-a,P-diethylstilbeneinto its oxide did not cause a reduction of the affinity to the estradiol receptor and since this oxide exhibits a strong mammary tumor inhibiting e f f e ~ tthese , ~ 3,3‘-dihydroxya,@-dialkylstilbeneswere connected with the potentially alkylating epoxide group. Thus, it might be possible to

* Institut fiir Pharmazie der Universitat Regensburg.

5 Klink der Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universitat, Abteilung fiir Gynaekologie und Onkologie. * Klink der Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universitiit, Abteilung ftir Tierversuchskunde.

get compounds with antiestrogenic and cytotoxic properties that might have a more selective effect on the hormone-dependent mammary carcinoma because of their affinity to the estradiol receptor than common cytostatic drugs. Chemistry. 3,3’-Diacetoxy-a,P-dialkylstilbenes1-4 were prepared from the corresponding 3,3’-dihydroxy com(1) Schneider, M.; von Angerer, E.; Kranzfelder, G.; Schonenberger,H. Arch. Pharm. ( Weinheim, Ger.) 1980,313, 919. (2) Kranzfelder, G.; Schneider, M.; von Angerer, E.; Schonenberger, H. J . Cancer Res. Clin. Oncol. 1980,97, 167. (3) Schneider, M. R.; Kranzfelder, G.; von Angerer, E.; Schonenberger,H.; Metzler, M.; Michel, R. Th.; Fortmeyer, H. P.; Ruckdeschel, G. J. Cancer Res. Clin. Oncol. 1981,100,247.

0022-2623/82/1825-0141$01.25/00 1982 American Chemical Society

142 Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 1982, Vol. 25, No. 2

Scheme I

Schneider et al. Table 11. Uterotrophic Activity of 2 and 6-10 in the Mouse Uterine Weight Test compd solvent estrone 2

1-5 7

1 2 3

6 7 8 9

4 5

10

R' CH3 C2H5 C,H, C4H9 CZH,

6-10 R2 OCOCH, OCOCH, OCOCH, OCOCH, OH

Table I. Chemical Data and Relative Binding Affinity (RBA) of Compounds 1-10

RBA,~ R2 mp, "C formulan % OCOCH, 132 0.4 C20H?.004 OCOCH, 83 2.2 C22H2.404 OCOCH, 46 1.3 C24H2804 OCOCH, 45 0.6 C7dH3204 OH 176 3.2 C18H2004 6 OCOCH, 96 0.8 C*oH2oO, 7 OCOCH, 94 4.2 C22H2405 8 OCOCH, 57 1.7 C24H280 5 9 OCOCH, 59 0.8 C74H320S 10 OH 169 ~,8HrnO3 5.4 All compounds were analyzed for C and H within RBA = [E2]/[I] x 100; +0.4%of the calculated values. [ E21 and [I] are the molar concnetrations of unradioactive E2 and inhibitor required to halve the bound radioactivity; E2 = 17p-estradiol. no. 1 2 3 4 5

solvent estrone 6 8

solvent estrone 9

R'

pounds1 in the usual manner with acetic anhydride and pyridine (Table I, Scheme I). From these diacetates were synthesized the corresponding stilbene oxides 6-9 using 3-chloroperbenzoic acid as the epoxidizing agent (Table I, Scheme I). The compound 5 with free aromatic hydroxy groups1 was epoxidized to give 10. Biological Properties. In vitro, compounds 1-10 competitively inhibited the interaction of [BH]estradiol with its receptor. The stilbenes and stilbene oxides with ethyl groups in the a,@positions (2,7,5, and 10) showed the highest receptor affinity (Table I). Shortening or lengthening the alkyl side chains in 2 and 7 led to a decrease of this effect. Acetylation of the phenolic hydroxy groups in 5 and 10 diminished the receptor affinity only slightly. The transformation of the stilbenes to their oxides did not reduce the affinity; on the contrary, a slight increase was obtained. In the mouse uterine weight test in vivo the uterotrophic properties of the epoxides 6-10 were only weak (Table 11). Whereas potent estrogens, such as diethylstilbestrol or estrone, cause a maximum stimulation of uterine growth at a dose of about 0.4 pg per m o u ~ e ,7~and , ~ its phenolic analogue 10 reached this maximum effect only at very high doses. The effect of 8 and 9 did not equal that of estrone, even at high doses. Compound 6 did not show any significant uterotrophic activity. The comparison between the stilbene 2 and its oxide 7 indicated that both compounds have similar estrogenic properties (Table 11).

solvent estrone 10

dose,n p g 0.4 1 10 50 100 500 1 10 50 100 500 0.4 10 100 500 5 50 100 500 0.4 10 100 1000

0.4 8 80 800 Dose per animal and day. ligrams)/body weight (grams) x

effect b

13.1 + 2.3 40.7 i. 4.2 15.9 i 2.3 24.3 i. 2.5 21.4 i. 2.8 32.7 i 1.7 42.0 i 4.8 22.2 i 2.9 30.3 * 1.7 33.4 i 3.0 36.2 i 3.4 38.6 i. 1.7 16.8 i 2.6 41.0 t 6.2 17.0 i 4.4 15.0 * 2.8 20.6 i 4.6 21.8 i. 4.0 22.1 t 5.3 31.1 c 5.9 33.3 f 7.7 10.9 i 2.3 45.6 i 4.6 19.8 i. 3.2 34.3 * 3.5 35.5 i 3.9 14.6 i 2.8 46.3 t 5.1 29.4 t 4.9 33.0 t 2.5 43.6 i 4.9 Uterus dry weight (mil100.

Among the epoxides, compounds 6 , 7 , 9 and 10 significantly inhibited the estrone-stimulated uterine growth of the immature mouse. However, high doses of 7-10, but not of 6, led to a nearly complete loss of the estrone-antagonizing effect. The epoxide 10 exhibited nearly the same antiuterotrophic effect as its corresponding stilbene (5). The antiuterotrophic properties of the phenolic analogues of 1,3, and 4, which are already publishedJ2are similar to those of 6, 8, and 9. It is noteworthy that inhibitory effects were obtained at doses at which these compounds had only weak or even no uterotrophic activity (Table 111). In order to determine the potential alkylating properties of the epoxides 6-10 the 4-(p-nitrobenzyl)pyridinetest (NBP test)4 was carried out. In this test, an alkylating compound reacts with the nucleophilic center of NBP. The resulting product is converted with KOH to a colored compound whose extinction at 600 nm is measured. However, none of the stilbene oxides exhibited any considerable effect. In another test to detect prophage-inducing activities5 (a further hint at alkylating properties), only 6 showed a slight effect [n = 1.5 M)]. For testing the tumor-inhibiting properties we used an estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor positive postmenopausal human mammary carcinoma serially implanted in nude mice. The strongest inhibiting effect was shown by 3,3'-dihydroxy-cu,P-diethylstilbene( 5 ) and its oxide (lo), i.e., the compounds with the highest receptor affinity, at a dose of 4 mg/kg (Figure 1). These two compounds were also tested at doses of 1 and 2 mg/kg (4) Bardos, T. J.; Datta-Gupta, N.; Hebborn, P.; Triggle, D. J. J. Med. Chem. 1965,8, 167. (5) Heinemann, B.; Howard, A. J. Microbiology 1964, 12, 234.

3,3'-Diacetoxy-a,~-dialkylstilbenes

Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 1982, Vol. 25, No. 2 143

I

Table 111. Antiuterotrophic Activity of 5-10 in the Mouse Uterine Weight Test compd

effectb inhibn,c*d% 10.0 It 0.9 solvent 44.8 ?I 6.8 0.1 estrone 18.7e 38.3 i: 0.6 5 2.5 28.1 f 6.5 48.0e 5 42.ge 29.9 i 4.1 25 45.1e 29.1 f 3.9 50 10.3 i: 4.5 solvent 43.7 t 6.8 0.1 estrone 17.4 5 37.9 t 5.1 6 23.0e 36.1 f 2.6 25 32.6 f 3.9 33.4e 100 33.1 * 3.9 31.7e 250 solvent 13.8 t 1.4 43.0 i. 3.7 estrone 0.1 33.5e 33.2 i: 4.8 7 5 50 36.4 * 4.7 22.6e 100 43.7 i: 4.1 0 10 52.5e 5 27.6 f 2.9 33.0 f 4.4 34.3e 50 42.2 f 4.0 2.7 100 solvent 12.9 f 3.4 estrone 38.0 f 7.1 0.1 15.6 34.1 t 5.0 8 5 36.3 f 5.6 7.8 25 0 100 39.4 f 4.7 solvent 16.4 f 1.9 estrone 42.5 f 3.4 0.1 5 38.ge 32.4 t 5.8 9 50 42.0 f 5.4 2.2 42.4 f 5.0 0.4 100 Uterus dry weight (mila Dose per animal and day. ligrams)/body weight (grams) x 100. C Percent inhibition = 100 - (Es,T - E v ) / ( E s- E v ) x 100; E s = effect of estrone standard; ES,T = effect of standard under simultaneous application of test substance; E v = effect of vehicle. The U test according to Wilcoxon, Mann, and Whitney was used. e Significant (a < 0.01).

'

dose,a pg

re\ d i v e

tumor size

3 *-

2

'.

1

..

/ 0

2

1

3

L weekof treatment

Figure 1. Effect of 5 and 10 on the growth of an estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor positive, hormone-dependent postmenopausal human mammary carcinoma implanted in nude mice: 6 X 4.0 (mg/kg)/week sc; duration of treatment, 4 weeks; a), significant (a I 0.05); n = number of tumors per group. The change of body weight of the treated animals was in the &lo% range in comparison with the controls.

Table IV. Effect of 1-10 on the Growth of an Estrogen Receptor and Progesterone Receptor Positive Hmmone-Dependent Postmenopausal Human Mammary Carcinoma Implanted in Nude Mice dose. (mg/kg)/ day compd tumor size

compd tumor size

control 3.43 control 3.43 2.4 1 3.42d 6 2.72d 2.6 2 2.3OC 7 2.38' 8 1.85' 2.8 3 2.32' 3.0 4 4.10d 9 3.37d 2.7gd 10 2.90d 1.0 5 2.0 5 1.76' 10 1.85' a Compounds were administered 6 times a week sc. Average after 5 weeks of therapy; for definition of tumor size see Experimental Section. ' Significant (a < Not significant (a > 0.05). 0.05).

(Table IV). A dose-dependent effect was observed. 5 and 10 also strongly inhibited the growth of the DMBA-induced, hormone-dependent mammary carcinoma of the SD rat (Table V, Figure 2). At a dose of 1 mg/kg of 10,76% of the tumors showed a complete remission. At the same dose, 5 was less active (Table V). The remaining compounds were administered in the xenograft tumor experiment at a dose that is equimolar to the dose of 2 mg/kg of 5. Whereas 1 and 4, as well as 6 and 9, caused no significant inhibition of tumor growth, 2,3,7, and 8 showed a significant effect (aI 0.05) (Table

V) .

Comparison of the antitumor activity to the RBA values shows a correlation between these two effects. This was

contrd

0

:

g *

/A

0

w 0)

0

eU

,Ap

/

A

end ?f therapy

Figure 2. Effect of 10, at 6 X 0.5 (0-O), 1.0 (x-x), and 4.0 (0-0) (mg/kg)/week sc, on the growth of the DMBA-induced, hormone-dependent mammary carcinoma of the SD rat; duration of treatment, 28 days.

also confirmed by Hartmann et a1.: who administered several compounds of the type of 192-dialkyl-1,2-bis(3'hydroxypheny1)ethanes in doses proportional to their in(6) Hartmann, R. W.; Buchborn, H.; Kranzfelder, G.; Schonenberger, H.; Bogden, A. E. J. Med. Chern. 1981, 24, 1192.

144 Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 1982, Vol. 25, No. 2

Table V. Effect of 5 and 1 0 on the Growth of the DMBA-Induced Hormone-Dependent Mammary Carcinoma of the SD Rata %

change dose$b no. of of (mg’ tumors % of tumors with tumor kg)/ B NT CR PR NC P areaC compd day control 39 32 6 1 4 44 37 24 7 40 1.0 32 34 1 5 23 38 24 5 2d 2.0 32 21 25 26 32 1 7 5 4.0 37 1 7 27 22 32 1 9 -26d 5 25 38 3 3 3 62 430 2 control 5 13 l€id 0.5 27 18 69 1 3 10 0 1 0 -52d 1.0 31 10 76 1 3 10 4 61 1 2 1 2 1 5 -16d 4.0 29 10 a B = at test beginning; NT = occurring during the test; CR = complete remission, tumor not palpable; PR = partial remission, tumor size < 50% of initial size; NC = no change, tumor size 51-150% of initial tumor size. P = Comprogression = tumor size > 150% of initial size. pounds were administered 6 times a week sc. Average Significant (CY< 0.01). on the 28th day of therapy.

dividual receptor affinity to animals bearing DMBA-induced carcinomas. In these different doses they showed nearly the same antitumor activity. Compared with their corresponding stilbenes, no significantly better antitumor effect of the stilbene oxides was detected in the xenograft tumor model. Compounds 5 and 10 were also tested on a premenopausal human mammary carcinoma implanted in nude mice. At a dosage of 6 X 4 (mg/kg)/week, no effect on the tumor growth was detected. A therapy with tamoxifen did not cause any growth inhibition either.7 This is not surprising, since mammary tumors that are estrogen receptor positive and progesterone receptor negative, like the tumor mentioned above, are only weakly influenced by endocrine therapyas Discussion The estradiol receptor affinity of the 3,3’-diacetoxya,@-dialkylstilbenesand their corresponding oxides highly depends on the length of the alkyl side chains. The compounds with ethyl in a,@positions exhibited the maximum binding affinity. The same results were obtained in a series of 1,2-dialky1-1,2-diphenylethane~.~ Surprisingly, the receptor affinity is only slightly decreased by acetylation of the phenolic hydroxy groups. A cleavage of the acetoxy groups under the conditions of the binding assay is unlikely but cannot be excluded. In spite of the steric modification of the molecule by the transformation of the stilbenes into their oxides, the affinity to the estrogen receptor is not diminished but even slightly increased. Furthermore, the uterotrophic and antiuterotrophic effects differ only slightly between the stilbenes and their epoxides. Contrary to our expectations, the introduction of the epoxide group into the stilbenes did not lead to a significant improvement of the antitumor activity, probably because their potential alkylating properties did not take effect as shown by the negative results in the NBPtest and in the prophage-inducing test. The mechanism of the antitumor activity of these compounds is not clear yet. It may be due to either antiestrogenic or estrogenic properties. Our results that arise (7) Michel, R. Th.; Schmidt-Matthiesen, H.; Bastert, G.; Fortmeyer, H. P. Recent Results Cancer Res. 1980, 71, 59. (8) Mc Guire, W. L.; Zava, D. T.; Horwitz, K. B.; Chamness, G. C. In “Hormone Deprivation in Breast Cancer”;Mayer, M.; Saez, S.; Stoll, B. A., Eds.; Imperial Chemical Industries: Alderley Park, 1977.

Schneider et al.

from the uterotrophic and antiuterotrophic assay we applied do not exclude that our compounds are more estrogenic if administered continu~usly.~ It is well-known that estrogens also strongly inhibit the growth of hormonedependent mammary c a r c i n o m a ~ . ~As J ~ a conclusion it can be stated that some of the described stilbene oxides are strong inhibitors of hormone-dependent mammary carcinomas but are not superior to the parent stilbenes in their antitumor activity. Experimental Section General Procedures. TLC was performed on Merck F 254 silica gel plates. Melting points were determined on a Buchi 510 melting point apparatus and are uncorrected. Elemental analyses were performed by the Mikroanalytisches Laboratorium, Universitiit Regensburg. The structures of all compounds were confirmed by ‘H NMR spectra (Varian EM 360 A, 60 MHz), and the structures of the epoxideswere confiied additionally by mass spectroscopy (Varian MAT CH5). Syntheses. 3,3’-Dihydroxy-a,P-dialkylstilbenes1 (0.01 mol) were acetylated by refluxing with acetic anhydride (0.02 mol) and pyridine (0.025 mol) for 30 min. After the mixture was cooled, ice-water was added and the mixture was extracted with ether. The ether extract was washed with 1 N HC1 and saturated NaHC03 solution. The solvent was removed, and the crude products were recrystallized from EtOH to give the 3,3’-diacetoxy-a,&dialkylstilbenes in about quantitative yield. Compounds 1-5 (0.01 mol) were epoxidized by stirring with 3-chloroperbenzoic acid (0.012 mol) in an ethereal solution under protection from light. The course of the reaction was observed by TLC. After quantitative conversion to the epoxide, the ethereal solution was washed with saturated NaHC03 solution, and the solvent was removed. The crude product was recrystallized from EtOH to give the epoxides in a yield of about 60-70%. For further data, see Table I.

Biological Methods. Estradiol Receptor Binding Assay. The method described in ref 2 was used with some modifications. Test compounds were incubated with cytosol from calf uteri and [3H]estradiolat 4 “C for 16 h. Incubation was stopped by adding dextran-coated charcoal. After centrifugation, the radioactivity of a 100-pL supernatant aliquot was counted. The percentage bound radioligand was plotted vs. the concentration of unlabeled test compounds. Six concentrations of the competitors were tested. They were chosen to provide a linear portion on a semilog plot crossing the point of 50% competition. From this plot, the molar concentrationsof unlabeled estradiol and of test compounds reducing radioligand binding by 50% were determined. The effectiveness of an inhibitor was established by using the ratio of the unlabeled estradiol concentration for 50% competition to the inhibitor concentration for 50% competition. This ratio, multiplied by 100, forms the relative binding affinity (RBA). Estrogen and Antiestrogen Assays. The Dorfman uterine weight test was carried out to determine estrogenic and antiestrogenic properties.2 Compounds (as olive oil solutions) were injected sc daily into immature female NMRI mice (ten mice per group; age, 20 days at test beginning; body weight, 10-12 g) for 3 days. The animals were killed 24 h after the last injection. The uteri were removed, prepared, and weighed after drying at 100 “C for 24 h. Cytotoxic Properties. The 4-@-nitrobenzyl)pyridine test (NBPtest) was used to determine the alkylating proper tie^.^ NI3P (1 mL of a 5% ethanolic solution) was added to the test compounds (1 mg in 1 mL of ethanol) and also 1 mL of 0.05 M potassium biphthalate buffer, pH 4.2 (final pH 7.0). After an incubation a t 50 “C for 1 h, ethanolic KOH was added and the extinction at 600 nm was measured (reference compounds: chlorambucile and propylene oxide). In another experiment, the prophage-inducing effect in Escherichia coli K12 was tested.6 The quotient at the given concentration is considered as a criterion of the alkylating properties. (9) Clark, J. H.; Paszko, Z.; Peck, E. J. Endocrinology 1977, 100, 91. (10) Griswold, D. P.; Skipper, H. E.; Laster, Jr., W. R.; Wilcox, W. S.; Schabel, Jr., F. M. Cancer Res. 1966, 26, 2169.

J. Med. Chem. 1982,25, 145-152 n=

no. of plaques induced by the test compd no. of plaques in control

Mammary Tumor Growth Inhibition Tests. (a) DMBAInduced, Hormone-Dependent Mammary Carcinoma of the SD Rat? A single dose of 20 mg of DMBA (9,10-dimethyl-1,2benzanthracene) was administered by gastric intubation to female SD (Sprague-Dawley) rats at an age of 50 days. After the appearance of tumors, about 4 weeks later, animals with a t least one tumor with an area >140 mm2 were classified in groups of ten. Compounds were administered in olive oil solution 6 times a week sc. The duration of treatment was 28 days. Measurement of tumor area was made twice weekly. The tumor area was defmed by length X width of the tumor.

(b) Hormone-Dependent Human Mammary Carcinoma Serially Transplanted in Nude Mice? Animals of a random-

145

bred strain (NMRI nu/nu) at an age of 6 to 7 weeks were grafted with mammary carcinomas from premenopausal (female mice) and postmenopausal (castrated female or male mice) women. The premenopausal tumor was estrogen receptor positive and progesterone receptor negative; the postmenopausal tumor was estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor positive. Tumors were measured once a week by two diameters. Compounds were administered as olive oil solutions 6 times a week sc. The duration of treatment was 4-5 weeks. At the beginning of treatment, tumor size was defined as “1”.

Acknowledgment. Thanks are due to the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and to the Verband der Chemischen Industrie, Fonds der Chemischen Industrie, who supported this work by grants. The technical assistance of A. Grobe and H. Stegmiiller is gratefully acknowledged.

Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships of Aromatic Esters of 1-Methyl-4-piperidinolas Analgesics’ Chen-Yu Cheng,*pt Einar Brochmann-Hanssen,? and James A. Waterst Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of California, S a n Francisco, California 94143, and Laboratory of Chemistry, N I A M D D , National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20014. Received M a y 11, 1981

Substituted benzoic acid esters of 1-methyl-4-piperidinol showed analgesic activity when assayed by the mouse hot-plate method, the more potent ones falling in the morphine-cdeine range. To understand how substituents on the aromatic ring affect the analgesic potency, quantitative structure-activity correlations were carried out on a series of 44 derivatives. Among the various substituent parameters included in the study, Lortho(length of ortho-substituents) and B1 (minimal width of substituents) or E, at meta and para positions gave negative correlation with the potency, and the ability of being a hydrogen-bond acceptor enhanced the potency. Based while lipophilicity (especially rme& on the QSAR results, a substitution pattern of the phenyl group was defined for optimal activity. Implications on drug-receptor interactions and the possible binding mode of these compounds were discussed.

Previous studies2” have shown that substituted benzoic acid esters of 1-methyl-4-piperidinol possess analgesic activity by the hot-plate assay, with the more potent ones in the range of morphine and codeine, but, in general, they display no morphine-like physical dependence liability in monkeys. These esters have the main structural features of many synthetic analgesics, namely, a benzene ring and a piperidine ring. However, they lack the quaternary phenyl substitution at C-4 of the piperidine ring, which is present in meperidine, prodine, and other 4-phenylpiperidine analgesics. Qualitative structureactivity correlations of some 3- and 4-substituted and 3,4-disubstituted benzoate esters were made with regard to substituent constants E,“ and r. No significant conclusions were drawn from this limited study? and it became apparent that a quantitative study applying multiple-regression analysis would be necessary in order to gain insight into the involvement of the aromatic ring in determining the analgesic potency. Over the years, several publications have appearedkg on the quantitative structure-activity relationships of narcotic analgesics, but none has dealt extensively with the effects of substituents on the aromatic moiety. Preliminary analysis of available compounds showed an insufficient spread of substituent parameter values. Therefore, additional monosubstituted compounds were synthesized based on Craig’s plots,1° as illustrated for

* Address correspondence to Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139. +University of California. NIAMDD.

*

0022-2623/82/1825-0145$01.25/0

para-substituted compounds in Figure 1. The structure and analgesic potency of all 48 benzoic acid esters of 1methyl-4-piperidinol are shown in Table I. The analgesic potencies ranged from an average hot-plate EDMof 3.9 to 74 mg/kg (0.012 to 0.23 mmol/kg), with the exception of a few which were marginally active or inactive at 100 mg/kg. Results and Discussion Among the various physicochemical parameters included in the study (cf. Experimental Section), those found to be significant in correlating the structure with activity are listed in Table I. The statistically significant regression equations are given below, where n is the number of compounds, r is the multiple regression coefficient, s is the standard deviation of the regression, and f is the value of (1) This paper has been presented in part. See “Abstracts of

(2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

Papers”, 2nd Chemical Congress of the North American Continent, Las Vegas, NV, Aug 27,1980, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 1980, Abstr MEDI 64. J. A. Waters, J.Med. Chem., 20, 1496 (1977). J. A. Waters, J. Med. Chem., 21, 628 (1978). E. Kutter, A. Herz, H.-J. Teschemacher, and R. Hess, J.Med. Chem., 13, 801 (1970). A. E. Jacobson, W. A. Klee, and W. J. Dunn 111, Eur. J. Med. Chem., 12,49 (1977). R. Katz, S. F. Osborne, and F. Ionescu, J. Med. Chem., 20,

1413 (1977). (7) A. E. Jacobson, NIDA Res. Monogr., no. 22, 129 (1978). (8) Howard Johnson, NIDA Res. Monogr., no. 22, 146 (1978). (9) E. J. Lien, G. L. Tong, D. B. Srulevitch, and C. Dias, NIDA Res. Monogr., no. 22, 186 (1978). (10) P. N. Craig, J. Med. Chem., 14, 680 (1971).

0 1982 American Chemical Society